The present invention relates to a character displaying technique in a video game using an optical disk, a magnetic disk, a semiconductor disk or like storage medium storing a program data.
Quite a few video game systems have been proposed. These video systems include systems comprised of a special apparatus for home use and a television monitor and systems comprised of a special apparatus for commercial use, a personal computer or a workstation, a display and a sound output device. Any one of these systems is provided with a controller operated by a game player, a storage medium storing a game program data, a CPU for executing controls to generate sounds and images based on the game program data, an image processor for generating images, an audio processor for generating sounds, a CRT monitor for displaying images, and a loudspeaker for making the sounds audible. CD-ROMs, semiconductor memories, cassettes containing built-in semiconductor memories, etc. are frequently used as the storage medium.
Various kinds of video games of this type are known. In simulation games, as one kind of these video games, in which a game progresses in accordance with a scenario set beforehand, games are known in which sentences of e.g. 3 to 4 lines representing contents of speeches of human characters who appear on the monitor and related imitation sounds are displayed in a character display section provided in a specified position of a monitor screen. In such games, the flow of sentence is expressed by displaying the characters one by one in the character display section for, e.g. each frame.
However, in the conventional video games, lines or speeches of the human characters are merely expressed by characters. None of them has tried to draw the game player""s attention by changing a display mode of the characters. On the other hand, controllers operated by game players while being held in their hands have been recently fitted with a vibration member. Vibration is given to the game player""s hands by driving the vibration member depending on the progress of the game, thereby making the game more interesting.
In view of the above situation, an object of the present invention is to provide a video game system, a video game display method and a readable storage medium storing a game program which are designed to display contents of speeches of characters in an emphasizing manner to a game player by linking vibration of a vibration member and a change of a character display mode.
The present invention is directed to a video game system in which a game progresses in accordance with a preset scenario, comprising a display means for displaying game screens, a sentence storage means for storing various sentences representing contents of the game in compliance with the scenario, a sentence display control means for displaying sentences in the form of characters on the display means to thereby express the progress of the contents of the game, a display mode changing means for changing a display mode of characters to be displayed on the display means when a specific character display is executed by the sentence display control means, a vibrating member mounted on an operable means to be held by a game player, a vibration control means for vibrating the vibrating member, and a link control means for linking a change of the display mode of the character display and vibration of the vibrating member.
In the video game system thus constructed, various sentences representing the contents of the game in compliance with the scenario are stored, the progress of the contents of the game is expressed by displaying the sentences in characters on the display means, and the display mode of the characters on the display means is changed when the specific character display is executed. Further, the content of the game corresponding to the displayed sentence can be emphasized by linking the change of the display mode of the characters and the vibration of the vibrating member mounted on the operable means held by the game player, with the result that the video game can be made more interesting.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading the following detailed description along with the accompanied drawings.